The area referred to as the Caribbean is named
for the sea – the Caribbean Sea – that is mostly enclosed by land. The
Caribbean Sea is the second largest on the planet – smaller than only the South
China Sea. It is both larger and deeper than the Mediterranean. The
surface area of the Caribbean Sea is more than eight times the land area of its
islands.

There is continental land to the west
and south of the sea, and islands are to the north and east. The islands
demarcate the boundary of the sea rather than sit in it.

The continental boundaries of the sea
include Central and South American countries. The Central American countries
include Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
The South American countries include Colombia and Venezuela.

The islands are usually considered in
three groups – the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Bahamas. The
Greater Antilles include the large islands of Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and
Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the smaller Cayman Islands. The
Lesser Antilles include the arc of islands reaching from the Virgin Islands in
the north to Trinidad in the south and islands off the north coast of South
America. The Lesser Antilles are often further grouped as the Leeward Islands,
Windward Islands, and Dutch Caribbean. The Leeward
Islands are at the north and west of the chain running from the Virgin Islands
to Guadeloupe. The Windward Islands are at the south and east of the chain
running from Dominica to Trinidad. The Dutch Caribbean are the islands off
the north coast of Venezuela. The
Bahamas are east of Cuba and north of Hispaniola.

Our sailing in the Caribbean

Many of the islands are close enough
that we traveled between them in day sails, and we had to make only a few
passages. Links to those passages follow.